Tory MP faces trial over sex assault on boy aged 15
A TORY MP is set to stand trial accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old boy.
Imran Ahmad Khan, MP for Wakefield, in West Yorkshire, since 2019, is accused of groping the teenager in Staffordshire in 2008.
Yesterday the Brexiteer, who has campaigned alongside Boris Johnson, described the allegation as ‘shocking, destabilising and traumatic’ and vowed to clear his name.
Ahmad Khan, 47, was charged in May with one count of sexual assault, relating to touching the boy without his consent. Reporting restrictions were lifted.
The MP, who previously worked for the United Nations, appeared at Westminster Magistrates’ Court on Thursday by video-link from his solicitor’s office.
The charge, which was read out in court, states: ‘In the county of Staffordshire you intentionally touched a boy aged 15 and that touching was sexual when he did not consent and you did not reasonably believe that he was consenting, contrary to Section 3 of the Sexual Offences Act 2003.’
Asked to indicate a plea to the charge, Ahmad Khan, who was represented by Sallie Bennett-Jenkins, QC, said: ‘Not guilty.’
Chief magistrate Paul Goldspring said the case was not suitable for trial in the magistrates court and sent it to the Old Bailey, where Ahmad Khan will next appear on July 15.
In a statement yesterday, the MP said: ‘It is true that an accusation has been made against me. May I make it clear from the outset that the allegation, which is from over 13 years ago, is denied in the strongest terms. This matter is deeply distressing to me, and I of course take it extremely seriously.
‘To be accused of doing something I did not do is shocking, destabilising and traumatic. I am innocent.
‘Those, like me, who are falsely accused of such actions are in the difficult position of having to endure damaging and painful speculation until the case is concluded.
‘I ask for privacy as I work to clear my name.’
His solicitor, David Janes, added that the charge would be ‘vigorously defended’.
Born in Wakefield, Ahmad Khan studied in Russia as well as at King’s College, London.
He is said to be an expert in counter-terrorism.
Rosemary Ainslie, head of special crime at the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS), said: ‘The CPS made the decision that Mr Khan should be charged after reviewing a file of evidence from Staffordshire Police.’
‘Denied in the strongest terms’